The invention relates to a rocker switch, particularly a window lift switch in a motor vehicle, having a switch housing in which a rocker lever can be adjusted from an initial position against a restoring force into a switch-on position.
Motor vehicles are increasingly equipped with electrically operable window lift switches for two or all of the side doors, and even also for a rear door. As a rule, a separate window lift switch is provided for each door of the motor vehicle, which switch is operated by a push button or a rocker lever. The push buttons or rocker levers, which can be operated by the driver, are usually either accommodated on the covering of the driver's door or on the center console.
A rocker switch of the above-mentioned type is known from German patent document DE 19619124 A1. The rocker lever is disposed in the center and can be tilted toward both sides for carrying out a closing or an opening movement of the window lifter. In the event of a faulty operation, there is the risk of an accidental closing movement and of an unintended squeezing-in. This may even lead to a risk of injury.
The invention provides a rocker switch of the above-mentioned type, by which a clear and safe operability is ensured.
According to the invention, a rocker switch, particularly a window lift switch in a motor vehicle, includes a switch housing in which a rocker lever can be adjusted from an initial position against a restoring force into a switch-on position. On one side, the rocker lever is disposed in the switch housing and, with its surface forming the free end of the rocker lever, in the initial position, is approximately flush with the surrounding areas of the switch housing. In the switch-on position, this surface protrudes from the surrounding areas.
As a result of selecting the bearing of the rocker lever in connection with the design of the visible surfaces of the rocker lever and the switch housing, a uniform and unobtrusive appearance is achieved. This even applies when, as is customary in the case of window lift switches, several of such rocker switches are arranged side-by-side. If, as in the case of the invention, the surface of the rocker switch protrudes from the surrounding areas in the switch-on position, the user has the impression that he is pulling the rocker lever out of the operating surface. An operating surface is the surface which is represented by the surface of the rocker lever in its initial position and the surrounding areas.
Within the scope of the invention, the orientation of the operating surface can be freely selected. It may have a horizontal, vertical or even a diagonal direction.
The described impression of a “pulling-out” for the movement out of the operating surface carried out at the rocker lever will be particularly pronounced when the operating surface extends approximately horizontally and assuming that the rocker switch is situated below the user's eye level. The user's viewing direction extends from above or diagonally from above. When, in the case of a window lift switch, the switch-on position has the purpose of moving the window lifter into the closed position, a clear interrelationship is achieved between the switch movement and the window lifter movement.
The switch housing preferably has a reach-in opening by way of which one can reach under the free end of the rocker lever for the adjustment into the switch-on position. The described “pulling of the rocker lever out of the operating surface” is thereby facilitated.
It is particularly advantageous for the rocker lever to have a further switch-on position into which it can be moved against a restoring force and into which the surface dips with respect to the surrounding areas of the switch housing. In the case of a window lift switch, the opening movement of the window lifter can be controlled in an obvious manner. The dipping-in motion carried out by the rocker lever clearly corresponds with the lowering movement of the window lifter.
The rocker lever is advantageously bent in its course at right angles. When the rocker lever is operated, the interior construction of the rocker switch, such as its bearing and a printed circuit board interacting with the rocker lever, remain hidden.
It is preferably provided that the rocker switch forms a switch bank together with additional such rocker switches arranged in a common switch housing. In this case, the surfaces of the rocker switches are situated in one plane together with the adjacent surfaces of the switch housing.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.